Freddy Adu beats Brazil

I know my occasional soccer posts are mostly ridiculous, but having just watched the U.S. beat Brazil 2-1 in an unhingingly thrilling and nerve-wracking U-20 (it obviously stands for “under 20,” but some of the players are already 20) World Cup game before a packed house of Ottawans, I have a couple of things to say:

2) There’s no way Freddy Adu can ever live up to all the hype that Nike arranged for him, and he’s probably too tiny to ever play the dominating midfield role he envisions for himself. But the kid (after all these years, he’s only 18) is still a force of nature. Jozy Altidore may have scored both goals, but the crucial second one, struck at a point when it seemed Brazil was going to pull ahead and take complete charge at any moment, was entirely the product of Freddy’s ball-handling magic and unfailing resolve. And hey, he’s the team captain. His team beat Brazil. Go Freddy!